Wittgenstein and Marx: Language, Mind and Society [Paperback]

The volume tries to offer a comparison between two philosophers who belong to two different philosophical traditions and who have thus been rarely discussed together: Karl Marx and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Despite these thinkers’ many distinctions, the contributions to the current volume try to reconstruct not only how the ‘second’ Wittgenstein was influenced by the Marxist tradition, but also – and above all – the theoretical affinities between the two philosophers. In this way, the book underlines the potential that Marx’s political thought holds for philosophers of language as well as the social implications of Wittgenstein’s thought and the political potential of some of his central topics, such as his critique of the private language argument and his theory of language games.

Introduction Historical and theoretical similarities The Presence of Marx in Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Language Language and mind Marx, Gramsci and Wittgenstein on Mind and Language Critique of Language and Critique of Human Forms of Social Life in Marx Subjectivity and human agency Subjectivity and Late Capitalism: From Marx to Wittgenstein Marx and Wittgenstein on the True Nature of Human Agency Reification: From Marx to Wittgenstein? Language between critical theory and social sciences Beyond Critical Theory. Wittgenstein, Discourse Ethics and Emancipatory Practice Social Science and the ‘Augustinian Picture of Language’: A Fieldwork Experience and its Significance